Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 WindForce OC 3GB Review

Power Consumption (Idle and Gaming)

In order to get an idea of a GPU's power draw, we loop the Unigine Valley 1.0 benchmark (2,560 x 1,400, 'Ultra' detail, no anti-aliasing), which is a very GPU-limited test. We use a watt meter to measure the maximum total system power draw during the test, and also take an idle reading at the Windows desktop (3,840 x 2,160).

Power Consumption

Idle (Windows 8.1 Desktop) and Load (Unigine Valley 1.0)

Gigabyte Radeon RX 460 WindForce 2X OC 2GB

MSI GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Gaming X 4GB

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 950 OC 2GB

Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 Founders Edition 6GB

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 WindForce OC 3GB

Sapphire Radeon RX 470 Nitro OC 4GB

Sapphire Radeon RX 480 Nitro OC 4GB

Sapphire Radeon RX 480 Nitro OC 8GB

Palit GeForce GTX 1070 GameRock Premium Edition 8GB

70

144

66

161

72

196

66

211

68

212

80

282

75

294

76

308

80

312

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

System Power Draw in Watts (Lower Is Better)

Idle

Load

Thermal Performance (Idle and Gaming)

Thermal output is also measured using Unigine's Valley 1.0 benchmark. The GPU is installed in a closed, but fairly well ventilated case (Corsair Graphite 760T) with HDD cages removed and the case fans at full speed. We leave all GPU fan profiles and settings as they come and leave the benchmark running for ten minutes so that temperatures plateau. We record the peak GPU temperature using GPU-Z, and present the data as the delta T (the difference between the GPU temperature and the ambient temperature in our labs). We also take an idle reading at the Windows desktop (3,840 x 2,160).